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Make Nuc Entrance Disc

Had anybody made their own? The discs that Mann lake is coming out with look pretty expensive. I live near there so I get all my gear with them. So I figured I could probably make my own. I took some scrap Luan that I had laying around and simply drilled a bunch of 1/8th inch holes in the shape of the nuc entrance. It is in the shape of a rectangle. One side has the vent holes and the other is untouched. I used a nail as a pivot on the untouched side so I can spin it from wide open to vented shut or anywhere in between. I figured that I didn't really need any of the other settings since I would only really use them to reduce the entrance and shut the entrance.

So my question is how well do you think these will hold up? I have plenty of other scrap if some thicker wood would help. Would this be anywhere effective against a determined mouse in the fall? I am not sure if any of my tools besides a tin snips is rated for metal. I remember reading once in the warre book that he used old soup cans or something. Anybody do that?

Edit-In relation to the mouse thing...my current version doesnt have a mouse guard setting but the next would. I asked the question without giving you the why. I suppose I could just keep what I have and put screen over them in the winter. Either way would the bees chew through this stuff?

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

I was going to suggest a soup can. I made a few this winter, I just haven't installed them yet. I imagine they will work just as well (I can't see why they wouldn't). I actually used a canned tomato can though, because they're bigger and it wasn't as tight a fit over the nuc entrances.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

Personally I subscribe to the thought process of if I can make it for cheeper I will at least try. Take your tin snips and cut a circle. Metal drill bits are cheep and you can even use a wood one if you go slow. Get a door or paddle bit for the large hole and if you want to make some slits if you have a table saw that you can raise and lower ther blade, clamp the metal to the table saw and slowly rise the blade to the size slits you want.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

I think that you'll find luan will delaminate and fall apart pretty quickly when exposed to the elements.
The 2012 Kelley catalog has metals entrance discs for less than $2, and plastic ones for 50 cents on page 49.
(The metal ones cost less, you only have to buy them once.)

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

Ya that makes sense. What if I just used these to seal off the entrance for moving and reducing the entrance? I could make these out of scrap pine instead of plywood. I guess I just need something that can seal off the entrance while still allowing ventilation and to reduce the entrance.

Since we are talking ventilation, if I drill vent holes in my nucs will window screen hold up? Or will bees chew through that?

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

i wouldn't trust the fiberglass screens, but steel/aluminum would probably work. I say this with no working knowlege of it. 1/8" hardware cloth is a sure bet though. i could not find the 1/8" at lowes, home depot, menards..etc. Ace hardware did have it, but i had to go to the window/screen repair area and ask for it. they didn;t aheva full roll on the sales floor. This was okay by me as I have no need for an entire roll.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

I make closure disks out of can tops. They are either closed, open or vent - no queen excluder. If you only need a few, then buy cans of pineapple. They have zinc plated cans, and they'll last longer in the weather. I use them for swarm trap entrances.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

I have struggled with buying the plastic entrance disks from betterbee. I used to just staple a screen under the entrance hole then fold it up and staple to close them in, it was a pain to pop the staple without ruining the screen. I make 100 - 200 nucs per year so when I started looking at how much time I spent bending over to fool with the screens( and how sore my back was after checking nucs for a day), I paid for the plastic discs and haven't regretted the choice it's just hard spending $250.00 for 100 discs. One of the entances on the disk is supposed to keep adult beetles out. I'll check Kelly's book to see what they have.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

Make sure the disc is screwed down snug enough so that it won't spin easily, especially if the entrance will be at the bottom of the disc. Cutting a hole in one side and having a solid area opposite it will create an unbalanced condition. With a loosely attached disc and the entrance hole at the bottom vibration of the hive could eventually cause the heavier solid side to rotate toward the bottom and close the entrance. It would be bad to come back in a week to a closed up box. Simply making sure the disc is snug should be good enough, I would think.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

Had anybody made their own? The discs that Mann lake is coming out with look pretty expensive. <snip>

But, if they are like the ones from Kelleys they are very heavy gauge and will last your lifetime (if you don't lose them). The Kelley ones are nice...both the small and large ones.

<snip>I used a nail as a pivot on the untouched side so I can spin it from wide open to vented shut or anywhere in between.

Kelleys uses a short bolt and wingnut to make tightening easy and secure. A nail might loosen up some.

<snip> I remember reading once in the warre book that he used old soup cans or something. Anybody do that?

Tin can lids should word fine just file the edges smooth...I would think they would last for several seasons especially if painted to cover the edges a little. Something else to look at that is easy to work with are rigid plastics...old busted platic garbage cans, scrap vinyl siding (aluminum would be easy to work with, too), even milk jugs though they would be pretty thin and more or less a single-season item, etc.,. One piece of siding could yield a lifetime of discs.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

What i have done is to make two entrance holes (each end) screen one and use a simple pivoting rectangle of wood as a reducer/closure on the other.

Alternatively drill 1 1/8" holes for entrances and then you can use the cap from a standard plastic water bottle to cork it up. Cut a triangular hole in a cap with your pocket knife (or or a hot nail head or use a spent cartridge case to punch a hole) and you can use it as a reducer. It also happens to be a pretty good size for a nuc entrance.

I've made entrance discs before, and I agree with the previous posters - when you consider what they cost to buy and how much work they are to make, unless you are really strapped or just want to fiddle around - buying makes sense.

Also, if you do use any kind of power tool on a small piece of metal such as a can lid, don't try to manually hold it down - clamp it securely - or you will likely have an opportunity to be posting pictures of your injuries.

Last edited by David LaFerney; 02-12-2013 at 07:26 AM.
Reason: I just can't stop myself.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

I use 1/8 hard ware cloth (left over from SBB). I cut a 3x3 squares and duct tape the sides. When I get where I am going I peel it off and stick it inside my 5 gallon bucket that carries all my junk. I can reuse a few time before I replace the duct tape.

Re: Make Nuc Entrance Disc

If I have to move the Nuc, I duct tape it to sides. If there is robbing going on, I can shut it down quickly and keep the ventilation. Then in the morning or at night I open the top entrance and the home bees switch to this exit.

They are pretty easy to make with 1x2s and some regular screen. I would probably buy if I could find the nuc size online somewhere.